The winner will be the first new French Open champion since Stan Wawrinka in 2015. Additionally, for the first time since 2004, a final at Roland Garros will be played without any of the members of the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
The last two were nevertheless well in the table. Times are changing and at the end of a long fortnight which saw the elimination of Nadal in the first round – by Zverev – and the injury withdrawal of Djokovic before his quarter-final, it is therefore the young Alcaraz (21 years old) and the most experienced Zverev (27 years old) who will fight for the title.
Two titles to zero
The past speaks largely in favor of the Spaniard: the Murcian won at the US Open 2022 the first Grand Slam final he played and then won Wimbledon 2023 by beating the master in the final with an extraordinary mentality places Djokovic, unbeatable on the London turf since his defeat in the quarters in 2017 (i.e. 34 matches won in a row).
Opposite, the German has only played one Grand Slam final, at the US Open 2020, which he lost. In the middle of covid, in an Arthur-Ashe stadium empty of its usual 25,000 spectators, no one was able to see firsthand to what extent the German, facing Dominic Thiem, had been paralyzed by the stakes. “I was two points away from the match, but I was not ready to win such a tournament. I was not mature enough. Today, I am 27 years old, I am no longer a child. If I doesn’t win this time, so when?” Zverev says.
